You Will Need:

Circuit:

1. 10 Incline Pushups

Perform pushups with your hands placed on a raised surface such as a the bottom of a slide or step. As I lowered into my pushup, I chose to keep my arms close to my body, with my elbows bending parallel to my body, to target my triceps a little more. (You can choose to do them differently.) Regardless, keep your core strong.

2. Hanging Bent Leg Raises

Using monkey bars, or something similar and secure, hang from the bars with your legs extended. Bend your legs and bring your knees to your chest. Lower your legs back down. Perform these slowly and controlled. If needing more of a challenge, try this with straight legs and try to get your toes to the bar.

3. 10 Step-Ups (per leg)

Using a step, bench or anything similar, step up onto the surface with one leg. Try to balance at the top and then return to your starting position. Complete 10 steps on the same leg before moving on to the other leg.

4. 10 Body Weight Rows

Find a bar, or something similar, to hold onto that is low enough that you can lean back as pictured, with your feet on the ground. Use the strength in your arms and back to pull your chest up towards the bar. Don't let your shoulders creep up to your ears. You can change the difficulty of the exercise by adjusting how much you use your legs to help you up. (Legs straightened out in front of you will be more difficult than legs bent with your feet under you.)

Friday, January 9, 2015

I just realized the last time I posted anything was back in October haha.

Well, Baby Paisley has arrived. She was born November 23rd.
Ta Da!

6 lbs 11 oz, 19 inches long

I love to compare things so.... Jade was 7 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches. :)

I was induced this time around. I don't think I will do that again. The pro to being induced was I knew exactly when I was going in to the hospital, so it made finding someone to watch our toddler much easier. It was also nice to know my doctor would be there (she was going out of town for the holidays...)

Cons? There was no medical reason for me to be induced. Also, I had to lie in bed all day so they could monitor my baby's heart rate and my contractions. Once my contractions got painful, it was a little frustrating to not be able to move around. (In hindsight, I probably should have asked if I could get out of bed, but I didn't.)

Anyway, the most important thing is my baby arrived safe and sound. :)

Paisley was so alert when she came out. I loved how she kept her eyes wide open, trying to take everything in. We love having her as part of our family.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

I came up with a workout for myself that I can do at home using just 1 or 2 steps. I am now 35 weeks along in my pregnancy. When I reached the 3rd trimester, I stopped doing exercises that involved a lot of jumping or too much bouncing.

If you've seen any of my other workouts I have posted, you'll notice I have a few "go to" exercises I always seem to do- such as pushups, tricep dips and piked pushups. I incorporated those into this workout as well.

Here it is:

After a 5 minute warm up (I did slow step ups and gradually increased my speed), I started this workout on the front porch steps.

3. 20 mtn climbers (hold a plank while bringing one leg at a time to your chest) followed immediately by 10 big step ups with a balance (I stepped up to the 2nd step to feel it more in my glutes), repeated 4 times

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Lately my workouts have been pretty random. Sometimes I work out at home, sometimes at the park, and sometimes I go to the gym.

One thing I try to keep constant is the time I workout. I have scheduled a break in my work schedule at 10 am (I start work at 6 am - and I am not one to get up at 4:30 am just to exercise.)

I have found that if I plan in advance what time I am exercising, it is much more likely to happen!

So when 10 am comes, I either walk to the park with Jade and workout there or I take her to the local rec center with me and she gets to play with other kids in the Kids Care.

I love it when I can get to the gym and lift heavy! So I thought I'd share what I did for my back workout this past week. (I split up what I train each day- one day will be legs, another day will be back, arms and shoulders, etc...) I rarely do cardio anymore except for when I walk to the park (I count that!)

Back Workout

warm up:

full body: squat, curl, to shoulder press (very light weight)

3 sets, 16-20 reps

back: lat pull down, wide overhand grip (light weight)

1 set, 16-20 reps (very slow, squeezing at the bottom and focusing on getting my back ready to go)

Workout:

lat pull down (wide, overhand grip)

4 sets, 12 reps

seated cable row (overhand grip)

4 sets, 12 reps

For the next 2 exercises, I used different machines my gym had. However, you can stay on the same machines you were using before and just change your grip.

lat pull down (narrower, underhand grip)

4 sets, 12 reps

seated cable row (underhand grip)

4 sets, 12 reps

rear delt fly

4 sets, 12 reps

dead lifts

4 sets, 12 reps

Since I am pregnant and in my last trimester, my focus isn't "how much freaking weight can I lift?" Instead, I focus on using a weight that allows me to do each exercise slowly, with proper form, and a good 3 second squeeze (or hold) at the bottom of each exercise.

Fun little accomplishment I am proud of: at the start of pregnancy 1 I could only shoulder press 10 lb dumbbells. Starting pregnancy 2 I could shoulder press 35 lb dbs! I have been really working on building my shoulders and upper body this past year, so I am really happy about this improvement!

[FYI: I plan to write a post on fitness and nutrition during pregnancy really soon!]

In general:

This pregnancy has definitely been more challenging. Not because the pregnancy itself is any harder, but because my life is significantly different. [I have a toddler!]

When I was pregnant with Jade, I slept all the time! I had stopped working during my last trimester, so all I had to do on my checklist each day was sleep, eat and maybe exercise. :)

This time, I have a full time job and I am a full time stay at home mom to a very energetic toddler. I am always tired! Lance was away most of my 2nd trimester- and that was really hard! Plus, we had to make some very stressful life changing decisions regarding Lance's career.

Anyway, the pregnancy itself has been going well. Everything is looking as it should, my weight gain is on track, and both myself and the baby are healthy! That's what is important!

We are so excited to welcome this new little baby girl to our family in just 2 and 1/2 months!!